Musical-chord indicator.



No. 857,955. FATENTED JUNE 25, 1907. C. A. MILLER. MUSICAL CHORD INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 0C'1'.3(),1906v 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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PATBNTED JUNE 25, 1907.

G. A. MILLER. MUSICAL GHORD INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED OCT.30, 19GB.

2 SHEBTS-SHBBT 2.

L meals PETERS cc., wAsHrNaroN, u. c.

CHARLES A. MLLER, OF VERNON, FLORIDA..

li'lllSl-OALCHOHD INDICATORu Specification of Letters Patent. u

Patented Juno 25, 1907..

amiamo.. md ombel- 30,1905. sean No. 541,283.

To all whom it may concern:

Re it known that l, OHARLEs MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vernon, in the county of lVashington and State of Florida, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in liihisical-Chord lndicators, of which the following is a specification.

rThis invention contemplates certain new and useful improvements in educational appliances particularly designed for use in connection with the piano or organ, and the object of the invention is to provide an improved chord indicator which will facilitate, make plain, as well as pleasant and interesting the study of harmony, and which will render more practicable and easy the art of playing the piano or organ for solo and duet work, as well as facilitating the art of playing accomp animents.

With these and other objects in view as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the details of construction and arrangement of certain indicia upon a chord indicator as will more fully appear hereinafter and be specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the `details of construction of the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of my improved musical chord indicator; Fig. 2 is a top plan view; Fig. 3 is an edge view Fig. 4 is a view looking at the opposite face from that seen in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an edge view oppositeto the edge view seen in Fig. 3; and, Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5, but with the appliance inverted end for end.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

My improved chord indicator comprises an appliance adapted to be supported upon a key-board of a piano or organ for the purpose of instruction, and in the present instance, this appliance is in the shape of an elongated block l which, preferably, is thicker along one longitudinal edge than the other and is provided with one 'llat and one beveled face. This block is provided with a recess 2, and two longitudinal rods 3 and 4 are mounted in said recess, one in front of the other, with the rear rod in a slightly higher plane than the front rod.

5 indicates an adjusting rod which is mounted to slide longitudinally, preferably in a groove 6 in one face of the appliance, and said adjusting rod is provided with mode indicating iingers 7 and 8 which extend laterally therefrom and project around one edge of the appliance, and with two other lingers designated 9 and 10, respectively, and all mounted in the recess 2, the nger 9 being looped around. and mounted to slide upon the front rod. 8, the finger l() being similarly mounted upon the rear rod 4. The iingers 9 and 10 carry indicating devices which may be in the form of collars or pieces of yarn, preferably brilliantly colored, so as to be easily discernable. In addition to these indicating devices, there is a pair of indicating devices designated l2, and 18 on the rod 3 and another pair designated 14 and l5 upon the rod 4. The adjusting rod 5 is provided at one end of the appliance with a laterally bent extremity 5a, serving as a Ylinger piece, so that the rod may be easily moved in a longitudinal direction.

In addition to the strictly mechanical features above specified, my improved chord indicator embodies certain indicia and arrangements thereof, which will now be de scribed in connection with some of the many examples illustrating the use of the device. For the purposes of illustration, we will assume that we have before us a key-board of a piano or organ, and as the key of O-major is generally recognized as the key most readily understood and easy to play, we will imagine that theinstrument is placed on the keyboard with a view of studying the harmony or main tones of this key.

At about its middle, my improved chord indicator is provided with the representation of a transversely extending arrow in line with which appears the word key. This arrow indicates the keylin which we are to play. For the purposes of illustration, let it be supposed that the instrument is placed on the key-board with the word key in the arrow directly over middle O. To the left of this arrow will be seen three capital letters displayed upon the face of the appliance which is then uppermost, said letters being T, S and D and standing for the words ton'c, sub-dominant, and dominant chords. These letters, in the present instance which we are illustrating are standing IOO ITO

' gitudinally so as to bring the linger directly over the keys C, F and G respectively, and. we will therefore see that in this key ot C as well as in other keys, these letters indicate in the bass clef the keys which are to be struck to obtain the keys or fundamentals of the tonic, dominant and sub-dominant herds et the key ot C Looking' to the il ht et the arrow and the word key, it will be lound that the indicating' lingers 9, l2 and 13 are directly over keys l *mi G and"tl and that the abbreviation 'lon. appears at the extreme right hand end oil the appliance in alinement with the front rod 3 and the said 'lingers 9, l2 and 13. This abbreviation 'lon. relers to the tonic chord, and as the hngers 9, l2 and lil are directly over the keys E, G and (QW, we will see that the treble chord ot three keys (which is the one usually eniployed in simple harmony) is composed ol these three keys l l and and L even without knowing these keys, the indicating lineers mentioned will teach us the proper treble chord cori-espondinQ to the tonie bass key indicated by the capital letter MF. ln similar nianner, the lingers indicating the devices la and l5 on the rod 4t and the linger l() on said rod indicating the subdominant treble chord eorrespOndine to the bass key indieated by the letter S. At the extreme right handv end ot the inrtrument, above the abbreviation ["lon. and in alinement with the rod l will be :found another letter S indicating; the three keys ll, A and il over which the indicating;- divices 14 and l5 are located and comprisinp` the sub-domin ant chord of the key. Above the letteil S at the extremo right hand end ol the appliance will be lound the letter D which corresponds to the letter D in the bass and rel/ers to the dominant chord, the keys ot this chord beine` indicated by stripes 16 extendingl perpendieularly on the rear wall ot the recess 2. These stripes, in the present inst ance, that we are illustrating will be found over the keys D, G and B and indicate .fthe dominant chord of the key ol C, which corresponds to the bass dominant key indicated hy the letter D toward the lett hand end o t the appliance, as above noted. Se Vtar as this example has proceeded, the ehords have been indicated as in the major mode. ln order vto indicate the minor mode ol any key, the lingers O and l() are mounted to move longitudinally while the remaining lingers and indicating' devices on the rods 3 and 1t are stationary. ln this illustration, the mode indicating` linger 7 has been placed in registry `with indices on the lace ol the appliance with the word Major above the saine. Alone; side ot the word Maj or is the word Minor and it will be lound that by moving the adjusting' rod lon- 7 opposite the word ll/liner that the lingers 9 and.

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10 have been moved so as to indicate the minor treble chords, tonic, dominant and sub-dominant ot the key which is heine` played. lt is to be nderstood that the key ot C is merely taken as an illustration and that the lore-feinel remarks apply equally as well and the instrument is equally appltcable to the other keys, both in the major and minor modes. rl`he linger bl serves to indicate tono 5 ot the scale, and as the rod slides to the lelt as shown in Fig. l, the linger S carried along with it and thus Hats the sixth tone of Vthe scale. By this means the minor note ot the scale obtained. With the appliance still in the same position, it will be lound to display at the lront odge oll its upper tace a row of small circles, or similar idicating means which begin at the extreme lel't hand end ol" the appliance and end at a star to the right where the word End is displayed. These circles will be seen to stand directly over the keys constituting a minor scale, the appliance beinel thus marked on the tace ot the instrument just between the word End and the representation ot the arrow. Below this row oi" circles, on the trent edge oit the instrument will be seen the words Major scale and a series et larger circles inelosine` small circles and dots, the large circles beineT directly over thc keys which when played produce the tonic, dominant and sub-dominant ol the scale, while the dots represent the other keys ot the major scale. ,lt will thus be seen that in convenient juxtaposition are displayed indicia representing' the major scale ot C and its relative minor, or in other words, speaking' generally, it will he seen by this. means, the student mayat once be'tauejht what keys it is necessary to strike to run a major scale and its relative minor, or the minor scale and its relative major.

lli, now, the appliance is reversed, end lor end and replaced. upon the key-board ol'l thel instrument in such. manner that 'll l will be seen toward the right end. and up-side-down with the word Key 7 and the arrow head directly over the middle C ol the key-board the student will see toward the lett and upper end, the word. Minor and then looking at the appliance and toward the right, there will be seen displayed. seven small circles and one large circle directly over eight keys ol: tho key-board. The keys indicated by these ci rcles denote a minor scale embodyingr the keys olA C, D and. E llat, F, G and. A llat, and B and. l. Contimiine', countiner on toward. the right on the appliance, six lines and one large circle will be -found in alinement with the small circles and beyond said dots the word Major and the words Same key. The said lines and circles are located directly over eight keys ol the key-board and constitute a major scale, and. the purpose ol these rows ol circles and lines lOO IlO

in alineinent with each other is to illustrate the differences between a major and a minor scale in. the saine key. Hence, it will be seen that the major and minor scales of each key ol the key-boai'd are illustrated at every single adjustment ol the appliance to the various keys of the key-board.

ln addition to the indicia above noted, my improved appliance `facilitates the acquisition ot the art of lingering. lt is universally agreed th at no scale practice is e'l'lectiye until it is done by memory, but to learn the scales in the usual way by reading them lrom the stall until memorized, is a tedious task. By my instrument, the dilliculties ol' playing all the di'l'lerent scales and lingering them properly is rendered easy and interesting.

l'l the appliance be turned over so that it rests upon its beveled 'lace with the capital letters T, S and D directly under the instrument as seen in Fig. 5, at the lei't hand end, it will be seen the letters C, G, D, A, E and F, indicating different keys, such as C-natural, G-natural, in which one sharp occurs, D-natural, in which two sliarps occur and so on. ln line with these letters will be seen a row ci dots ending with circles and numerals 4, 5%, 2, i, the letter X, 2, l X; l, 2 X, 1,113,415 thus indicating that in ruiming any one ot these scales, the player is to use 'first the fourth linger, then the third, second, Jfore'linger and thumb, then the second linger, orefinger and thumb, and so on, and in this manner, it is evident that the pract'ce of scales may be rendered very easy without the necessity of reading from the stall'. The circles in this row are on every eighth key and indicate the key in which the scales are to be run. There are other keys, however, and to readily learn how to run the scales in these remaining keys of B, E, A and D, the appliance is turned over end 'for end as seen in Fig. 6 so that it will rest upon the key-board o'll the instrument upon the adjusting rod 5. New, it will be seen that at the extreme lelt hand end of the appliance occur the letters B, E, A and D, The appliance is to be placed so that the small circle in the middle rests directly over the center of the key represented by any one of these letters, and then the scale is run by 'fingering exactly as the lingers are indicated, taking note, however, that these letters B, E, "A and D represent black keys, that is, they are Hats. New, by turning the appliance end for end and setting` it upon its tace so that the adjusting rod 5 may be seen, to the le'lit end will be seen ll-sharp or Gr-flat. This is in reality one key for both F-sharp an( G- l'lat, being identically the same thing and fingered alike. There is still one more key to be lingered, namely B-natural and the lingering of this 'key is indicated thus as seen in Fig. 4, B 3, 2, LX, 3, 2,

just between the mode indicating lingers 7 and S.

lt is evident Yl'roni the Aforegoing description iii connection with the accompanying drawings that my appliance may be used to racilitate the playing oi. accompaniments either by ear or by sight reading in connection with specially devised music. All the player has to do to learn to play any accompaniment in any key, such accompaniment embodying the three main chords, is to place the instrument so that the arrow is over the `key in which the picco is to be played and il the piece to be played inthe iuaiorniode, all the performer has to do is to adjust the mode indicating lingers 7 and 8 and notice on the key-board, the chords indicated by the indicating lingers on the rods and at the rear wall oi the recess, and the keys indicated by the capital letters T, S and D in the bass cle-if. li the piece is to be played in the minor inode, the adjusting rod is manipulate d as hereinbeitore described.

lt will` thus be seen that my improved inode indicator enables any one to play upon a piano or organ either by car or by note, it the music be especially devised Yfor use in connection with my instrument and that the appliance will render interesting' and easy the study of harmony and will also assist the student or other performer in ruiming the scales with proper lingering.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A musical chord indicator comprising an appliance adapted to rest upon the keyboard of an instrument and provided with a tonic key indicator and a longitudinal recess, two longitudinal rods in said recess, said rods being provided with indicating lingers spaced to indicate the tonic and sub-dominant chords of the key which is being played when the tonic key indicator is in place, ineans ier indicating the relative dominant chord o'l said key when the tonic key indicator is in place, and means :for adjusting a linger upon each of the rods, as and tor the purpose speci'lied.

2. A musical chord indicator consisting o'l an appliance adapted to rest upon the keyboard of an-instrument and provided with. a tonic key indicator and a longitudinal recess, the rea-r wall of the recess displaying indicating devices spaced to indicate the dominant chord of the key which is being played when the tonic key indicator is in place, two longitudinal rods secured to the appliance in said recess, stationary indicating devices on each of said rods and designating certain keys in the tonic, and sub-dominant chords of the key when the tonic key .indicator is in place, an adjusting rod mounted to slide longitudinally on the appliance, and lingers carried by said rod and mounted to move on the two i, X, being seen first named rods, respectively, said 'lingers in- IOO ITO

dieating keys that are embodied in the tonic and sub-dominant chords of the key that is being played when the tonic key indicator is in place and susceptible ol movement longitudinally with the adjusting rod whereby to indicate the change from a major inode to a minor mode and vice versa.

3. A musical chord indicator consisting of an appliance :ulapted-te rest upon the keyboard o'li an instrument and provided with a tonic key indicator and a longitudinal recess, the rear wall olz the recess displaying indicating devices spaced to indicate the dominant chord of the key which is being played when the tonic key indicator is in place, two longitudinal rods secured. to the appliance in said recess, stationary devices on each of said rods and so spaced from the tonic key indicator as to represent certain keys in the tonic, and sub-dominant chords of the key that is being played, an adjusting rod mounted to slide longitudinally on the appliance,

and lingers carried by said rod and mounted to move on the two 'first named rods, respectively, said lingers spaced to indicate keys that are embodied in the tonic and subdominant chords of the key that is being played when the tonic key indicator is in place and susceptible of movement longitu* dinally with the adjusting rod whereby to indicate the change lroin a major inode to a minor inode and vice versa, the adjusting rod being` provided with laterally extending mode indicating lingers, and the appliance displaying the words major and minor which are intended for registry with one el2 said inode indicating lingers.

ln testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. MILLER.

litnesses G. J. PARISH, J, D. Panrsrr. 

